Switching Sides: A Case of Sepsis, Seizures, and Shifting Hemispheric Dominance

Robert’s story is a complicated combination of sepsis, medically refractory epilepsy, unusual gastroenterological reactivity, and altered cognitive processing. Robert’s challenge has been not only with seizures and medical complications but also with cognitive dysfunction including compromised language processing and memory. Bilateral hippocampal sclerosis may be at the root, but other presumed alterations in neural connectivity are likely involved. Robert’s progress toward recovery has been noteworthy because his hemispheric dominance seems to have shifted. He was presumably strongly left hemisphere dominant early in his life, but in the course of his treatment, he apparently shifted to being right hemisphere dominant for language tasks. His creative interests also changed, possibly reflecting this shift. His functionality improved, even while the seizure control has continued to be very challenging.